Re: Close your eyes

: : My grandmother used to say "Just close your eye's and think of England", the context was usually enduring something unpleasant. I have never heard it since - any ideas?

: You've asked about the more recent version of this phrase, which is still used in the UK at least, although usually ironically these days. Once you know that the original version was 'lie back and think of England', you might guess that this was advice given to wives when enduring unwilling sex with their husbands.

: Nice use of the grocer's apostrophe, by the way. Good to see it is still alive and kicking.

: See:

The excellent article to which your link leads contains this sentence: " Marriage was a route to economic security for women in Edwardian England and many must have seen the granting of sexual favours as an unwelcome price to pay for it."